AFCEA Army IT Day 2026: Faster Procurement, Outcome-Based Contracts, and What Industry Must Do Differently

Over the last year, the Army has been undergoing significant transformation under the Army Transformation Initiative and the larger Pentagon reorganization efforts. This includes the more recent decision to change from Program Executive Offices (PEO) to Portfolio Acquisition Executives (PAEs) to have tighter alignment across missions, the Chief Information Office (CIO), contracting and functional owners. This reorganization will help reduce siloed IT modernization, speed up decision-making and better align acquisition with operational outcomes. Hearing directly from Army leadership at the AFCEA Army IT Day in January, it was clearly outlined to industry that they are not slowing down but accelerating change. Acquisition and procurement have been no exception and are central to delivering speed, measurable outcomes and innovation. For industry, this shift signals more entry points for competition, faster decisions and greater accountability tied directly to mission impact.

Speed of Relevance

Speed and efficiency have become synonymous with pushing the Army further towards modernization. Reorganization and acquisitions changes have underscored that the Army is shifting away from slow, siloed IT modernization to speed-driven, interoperable, software-centric systems. Speed will be facilitated by consolidating platforms, aligning enterprise cloud and data foundations to enable scalable AI integration. That includes updating or canceling outdated software funding policies to keep up with the pace of technology, embrace iterative delivery and focus on more modular solutions that can integrate into the enterprise. For technology companies, this means that solutions prioritizing interoperability and the ability to scale within existing Army environments will be at an advantage.

To keep up with the necessary technology modernization at the speed of relevance, Army Contracting Command (ACC) is also changing their approach to contracting and acquisition to force that speed. Enterprise agreements (EA) are being more widely used to consolidate software purchases, gain price advantage and cut overhead costs for widely used technology across the Army. While there are more EA awards to be expected, it is important to pay attention to the companies being awarded agreements as vendors will be expected to build on or integrate with the enterprise platforms rather than displace them. This reinforces a “platform-first” environment where ecosystem compatibility matters as much as product capability.

In addition to EAs, the Army is looking to utilize Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs) and more regularly leverage Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs) as flexible, streamlined methods to quickly find and acquire innovative, commercial solutions for rapid modernization. These strategies reflect the desire to move away from bespoke systems and solutions and focus on interoperable, enterprise systems. Vendors and partners that lean into commercial solutions and modular capabilities to plug into the Army enterprise ecosystem and enable rapid deployment will be the most successful.

Leaning into EAs and commercial solutions is also changing historical reliance on long, locked-in contracts. ACC leadership at the AFCEA Army IT Day emphasized that Army needs to be more agile, accountable and move at commercial speed when looking for technical capabilities and are making some progress. ACC Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) was called out as a success, having gotten their contracting time on average down to 100 days from 180 days with some awards in just 14 days. As Army makes strides towards consistently faster procurement, technology companies should expect faster recompetes, more continuous competition and shorter relevance windows for solutions.

Outcomes and Innovation

In addition to faster competition and shorter procurement cycles, ACC leadership is phasing out level of effort (LOE) contracts to outcome-based contracts. Vendors and partners should ensure that their contracts have defined, measurable outputs to be successful in winning and keeping work. During the AFCEA Army IT event, it was suggested by ACC leadership that if a company currently has an LOE contract, to communicate with their contracting officer and propose measurable outcomes to help them proactively convert the contract. Resellers and integrators may also consider repositioning their services as delivery accelerators to highlight outcomes and speed rather than staffing expertise.

One way ACC-APG is looking to incentivize measurable outcomes and innovation is through adding a Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) tied to quality of performance and speed of delivery. The Army is beginning to use CLINs to support contract bonuses such as expedited delivery bonuses and performance incentives tied to measurable outcomes. Vendors and partners with solutions that materially improve speed, reliability, usability or price for value could take advantage of this as part of their contracting strategy. Another method mentioned during the discussion was using more bailment agreements so vendors can test products with Army users and get real-world feedback without immediate purchase commitments. Technology companies can take advantage of bailment agreements as low-friction pathways for proposing emerging technologies and demonstrate value in operational environments.

What Industry Must Do Differently

Several leaders speaking at the event were direct in calling out industry behavior as a major factor in slowing Army modernization. One example included the Army eliminating unnecessary risk management frameworks and streamlining Authority to Operate (ATO) requirements to reduce time for implementation. There have been instances where companies have been requesting unnecessary ATOs, which is not only slowing down implementation but also adding administrative burden onto the Army. It is important for vendors and partners to understand their operating environment and avoid introducing unnecessary compliance requirements.

The shift from PEOs to PAEs further reinforces change in operation expectations. PAEs are structured to manage portfolios holistically to support the alignment of acquisition and enterprise IT decisions around mission outcomes rather than individual programs. Shifting from program-centric, staffing heavy contracting models to mission-aligned delivery with measurable outcomes will be priority. Technology companies that fail to adapt and rely on legacy staffing models and waterfall delivery approaches will be unsuccessful. Solutions should lean into commercial capabilities, focus on integrating into the existing ecosystem to rapidly deploy and scale. With the Army explicitly lowering barriers to entry with the use of CSO, OTAs and other open solicitations, technology companies have the opportunity to leverage new funding and contracting methods to their best advantage. Vendors and partners that align to mission priorities, embrace outcome-based delivery and engage early and transparently will be best positioned as the Army accelerates enterprise IT modernization.

To get more TD SYNNEX Public Sector Market Insight content, please visit our Market Intelligence microsite.
 

About the Author:
Nikki Hamlin is a senior analyst on the TD SYNNEX Public Sector Market Intelligence team covering trends across the federal market. Nikki has more than 8 years of experience in federal procurement research and analysis, providing critical insights to support businesses in making informed decisions across civilian and defense agencies.